The War of the Faeries
by oily106
Summary: In the early days of Neopia, there was no good, no evil, no war...Until the Faeries came...


The War of the Faeries  
  
I was in Faerieland, on a quest - a quest for myself, for information, for knowledge and for Neopian history. I reached Fyora, the oldest and wisest of the Neopian Faeries, to lay my questions before her. She smiled serenely at me. "I had a feeling you would come, Kaellya.one day." I smiled back. "Greetings, Fyora." I knew Fyora reasonably well - in my many quests for my pets, I had sought her advice and I was always granted it - though many were not. But I had never quested for myself before. I was content - I was Kaellya, the Story Teller, I was a Faerie-friend, I was a Neopian historian. Now, I felt curiousity to know what I truly was - why did I have my white wings? My unnatural violet eyes? And as I surveyed the room, I wondered again. Why were there only female Faeries - and few but well hidden male ones? Why do pets still suffer with Faerie magic so powerful now? Where do Faeries come from? In my documenting of Neopian history, I found many gaps. And Fyora met my gaze and, before I vocalised my thoughts, began to speak. The Story Teller was being told a story.  
  
***  
  
"Neopia was not just young - in fact, it was barely an hour old when we Faerie came to it from another place. Are Neopians so blind now? That they cannot see what is before their eyes? Still, they are discovering the planet of Neopia! Never do they dream there may be others. Never do they inquire of the Alien Aishas or the Space Faerie or just stare at the sky to wonder what is out there. Yes, Faeries come from somewhere else and for all Neopia's civilisation, they cannot dream of another place just yet.  
  
We, male and female Faeries, represented only four elements - fire, water, earth and air. We came to Neopia. Then, Neopia had just one inhabitant - its creator. This was no Faerie or pet but a young man, who'd engineered complex machines to create Neopia. He saw it as a utopia, a place of peace, a paradise, where the war that scarred his home planet would never mar. For that reason, he asked Light and Dark Faeries not to come to Neopia. I believe you now call him.Dr Frank Sloth. Yes, he created Neopia.  
  
At first, Neopia flourished. Dr Sloth's creations and machines made many things possible. He was generous and kind hearted. An idealistic man, perhaps, but with a vision - a vision of a paradise, and a future. Pets thrived in Neopia and imagine our pleasure when the first humans came! An economy was beginning to rise and humans adopted pets to train and care for. Back then, the Faeries played a much bigger role in the pets' development - we would teach them the magic of our element. What existed then could not be called peace - for peace is just the time between war. This new world had never known war, or good, or evil. Those terms had no meaning.then.  
  
So Neopia grew. Pets explored the whole world and named places in their own language. That language is now known as Ancient Neopian and the gift of it has been lost to but a few. That language survives in but a few old books today. Neopians lived in harmony then, so the language was very idealistic, with no words for war or sword. But that was to come.  
  
The Faeries had almost served their time in Neopia. A few previously elemental Faeries had changed and Neopia now had the Soup Faerie, the Negg Faerie, the Space Faerie, and so on. It was arranged that, as the Faeries' time on Neopia drew to a close, that a small number of Faeries would stay. However, four Uber Faeries would be chosen, each one representing an element, and a Faerie King or Queen to lead them. That was the spark.  
  
An Air Faerie I was then but I, Fyora, was determined to become Queen. I watched all the other Faeries and presumptuously decided that my only real opposition was Tyore, a male Fire Faerie. A big argument broke out among all the Faeries. To understand this, you must understand us. Faeries have a being in charge of them all. Orders from the being must be obeyed. Because of this system, there were very few opportunities to lead others. Only a select band of Faeries could be picked to help the being with its work. Those Faeries gave up their element - or some have none - and become a different type of Faerie. To be given a position of power over other Faeries was a very desirable thing. So even on a tiny planet, over a small group of Faeries, a leadership was much coveted and sought after - but only one leader could be chosen, along with the four Uber Faeries.  
  
First, things were done properly and orderly. A number of magical aptitude tests, to check fitness for the role, were conceived. The Uber Faeries had to be the most powerful and best of their element but the criteria for leadership were unknown. But as Faeries began to fail the tests, accusations of cheating proliferated and many minor squabbles took place. We took care to hide these from the Neopians. When two fighting Faeries seriously injured one another, the tests were abandoned. The two Faeries, Illusen and Jhudora, continue their fight to this day - but they were still to play a major part in Neopia's history.  
  
Without the tests, chaos broke out. I was the only one who passed the official tests for leadership but Tyore came a close second. Every other Faerie failed miserably. Faeries began to take sides, some supporting Tyore, some supporting me. It was one fateful day that a small band of Faeries came from beyond Neopia without informing the being. They were Dark Faeries, who had been forbidden to visit Neopia so that this new world would never know of the difference between good and evil. As soon as the Dark Faeries arrived, Light Faeries came too to balance the equation. Some Element Faeries began to lean towards the light or the dark rather than remain neutral.  
  
Tyore openly used Dark magic, magic that had been banned on Neopia. In retaliation, my supporters used Light magic. I did not but concentrated my efforts elsewhere. We managed to shield the Neopians using elemental magic - they lived their lives blissfully unaware of the differences that were splitting the Faeries. But it could not last.  
  
I know now that I was wrong. While I did not use Light magic, allowing my supporters to use it made us the guilty ones as much as those who used Dark magic. The battle between good and evil was being replayed in Neopia as it had been replayed throughout the universe and has been replayed in Neopia since. As Tyore upped his attacks, we increased ours. Finally, the thing we had been dreading came to pass.  
  
Jhudora has been an Earth Faerie, as was Illusen. The two were originally close friends but, in the tests, the two turned against each other and fought. When the two sides appeared, Jhudora abandoned the earth to practise Dark magic and supported Tyore. In opposition, Illusen used Light magic and joined my forces. (Illusen was later to return to her Earth element, but Jhudora never did.)  
  
It was a new day, full of promise, early dawn stroking soft hues along the palette of the sky. Illusen and Jhudora were fighting. As white, yellow, black and purple magic sparked around them, they strayed perilously close to the barrier. We were all tired and had grown less vigilant - for the barrier was weakening. As my Faeries began to fade away, worn out from the constant drain on their magic, gaps appeared in the barrier. Unaware, Illusen and Jhudora forced their way through one of those gaps. I, miles away, instinctively felt a sense of foreboding.  
  
I recalled all my Faeries but it was too late. Across Neopia, pets and humans looked up at Good and Evil, battling in the sky. As they looked upon the Faeries with awe and respect, they saw nothing odd at first. But soon, other Faeries began to show. The barrier had gone - Tyore's forces were pouring in and mine came to meet them. Pets cheered in delight at the coloured magic streaming across the sky. I left my aerial fortress to try to stop the fighting - but it was futile. The sky filed with magic and many Faeries began to fall - down to Neopia. Bolts of magic, Light or Dark or elemental, began to hit pets below. Screams rang out into the air. I had failed - the day I feared had come.  
  
Neopia had lost her innocence. Pets knew good from evil, war from peace. Humans fled or were forced out by battling Faeries. Pets formed packs, trying not to see the destruction around them, yet they were never safe. Out war later spawned one amongst Neopets - that tale is contained in the history books (as the Great Aisha Wars). Sloth, whose vision of a paradise was torn apart, lost his mind. He believed only in ugliness and death - the only things he had seen last forever. It unhinged him - he began making mutations of his beloved pets and plotting against what he'd created.  
  
Amidst it all, I wandered lost. I could not help those who cried out to me - for were they friend or foe? I knew it should not matter - I had to be neutral, to use neither good nor evil, light nor dark. I had to be the grey between black and white. But I was lost and I wandered through the wasteland in my head, watching as Faeries fell.  
  
Of course, the being had word of Neopia's problems. He sent his most trusted aide to sort it out. Few have the privilege of serving the being directly and those who did were often non elementals. This Faerie had two names - she was known as the Faerie of the Heart and the Faerie of Stories. She was unusual, even for a Faerie - with white, feathery wings and violet eyes. She observed the battle and saw the heart of the matter and the truth. I was honoured when she came to me, lost and wandering .and she told me a direction.and the truth.  
  
To lead Neopia, one could not be good or evil - one had to be neutral. And neutrality comes at a price. Truths has never been beauty. Lies are beautiful - they have to be. But truths are ugly. I did not want to hear her, even if I should have. But she saw something in me still. She saw through the light and my airs, my arrogance, to something that could be Faerie Queen one day. She smiled at me - that smile has never left me. It was full of pure joy, hope and happiness. She was never selfish; she must have known then what she would do. "In you heart, you wield not your Air element or Light or Dark and your heart must be your guide, Fyora. Your heart will lead you true. I am the Faerie of the Heart and the Faerie of Stories. They are closer to each other than others realise. The story you are in is being written with your heart, Fyora, and the story is this planet. Neopia is wonderful - it can be an imperfect paradise yet. This is Neopia." She waved her hands at the raging wars, the violence, the destruction. "This is Neopia - look after it." Her words remain with me still. I opened my eyes to see what it could yet be.  
  
I heard a soft sound behind me. Tyore was standing behind me. His long black hair was loosely tied back and his purple eyes affixed me to the spot. His Fire element had long been abandoned and he was a skilled practitioner of Dark magic. "Fyora.This time I will not come second to you! I am the dark, the shadow that dogs every mortal's footstep, the nights that swallows up scream, the blackness that is feared by the primeval bit of mortals' brains - the fear that engulfs reason and logic. I am in my element and you are still lost." Tyore twisted his lips into a smile.  
  
I looked at him silently and he seemed to waver slightly. Then he drew back a hand and sent a ball of black magic hurtling towards me and I skipped aside. I prepared to summon my own magic but hesitated, overwhelmed by doubt. What magic was I? What magic did my heart wield? Good against evil was a battle replayed through many universes, in all worlds with intelligent beings But even if evil triumphed, good had hope still and if good won, then evil vowed to rise again. That battle had no end. That was a battle I did not want to fight. I could not wield the light, nor the dark, nor any element. I must be neutral to be Queen. I must learn to let go and to hold back, must be all things and nothing at once. To fight Tyore would be to oppose Dark - I could not do that. I had to balance the magics. This flash of understanding gave me a guide and I followed my heart from there.  
  
"I will not fight you, Tyore." He smiled again. "You will." He began to summon magic - any magic. All around, Faeries dropped from the sky, friend and foe, drained of their power. "You must control all magic to rule Neopia and Neopia's Faeries!" he hissed. "You must wield none," I replied. "Fool! The Faerie King must be the most powerful of all the Faeries!" Tyore filled his body with the magic and rose above the ground. He pointed a finger at Neopia. "Will you let me destroy it?" he asked, his purple eyes aglow. I could not reply but a voice spoke for me. "No." A figure with white wings stepped forward. It was the Faerie of Stories and the Heart. "You are wrong, Tyore. The Faerie Queen is the most powerful of all the Neopian Faeries but yet she has little magic at all. Her power lies in balancing the scales and preserving Neopia." "Then she has failed!" Tyore cried. He lifted his hands above his head and sent a long surge of magic downwards. Neopia began to disintegrate, land and water choked in blackness. I was lost in the dark again, but through it, my heart told me there was still hope - and I listened. I watched a white winged figure step forward and watched the Faerie of the Heart and Stories. She looked upwards and Tyore faltered.  
  
With a single thrust of her wings, she hovered over all Neopia. She surveyed the land and smiled. As she raised her arms, she conveyed her last words to my ears alone. "This is Neopia. Look after it." From her swirled her magic - fire, water, earth, air, darkness and light. She was all things in one. Her power surged out of her until her figure was no longer visible and all Neopia was rejuvenated and filled with pulsating colours. Then, suddenly, she was gone. The magic faded and she was nowhere to be found - but her magic filled Neopia, living on within it. She brought Neopia back from the brink. Pets still hid in packs, Neopia was still filled with imperfections - but it was alive. Those the Faeries had to leave to mend themselves and bear the shame silently. A curse was placed - that a Faerie could not spend too long around a human without hurting them - so that Faeries could not interfere disastrously again. Things could not go back to that idyllic paradise Neopia once was - we all had to change. Neopia has been threatened, torn apart by many wars and disasters - but always the Faerie lives on and Neopia survives yet. She made a great sacrifice for Neopia. What can I say to you? This is Neopia - look after it."  
  
Fyora ended her tale there and paused. "We honoured her with a new name - Faerie of Faeries. The being sent Tyore and his followers away and ordered most male Faeries off Neopia - its own reasons, I suppose. The being talked with me for days. I gave my first order- that Faeries must not return to Neopia until the time was right and wounds long healed. We locked ourselves up in our glass spires, far above the land. You know the story from there - it's history." I nodded slowly and turned to leave but paused at the exit. Something compelled me to ask a final question. "What became of the Faerie?" "They say she did not truly go - that her spirit earthed itself in Neopia and in every true Neopian. She will return as a Neopian, they say.for she loved to tell stories." I regarded Fyora clearly. "A Faerie of Stories, a Faerie of the Heart, with angel wings and violet eyes." I trailed off. "Not 'a' but The.The Faerie of Faeries." She dipped her head respectfully to me. I looked at her with my violet eyes, spreading my feathery wings, trying to read her expression. Finally, I too dipped my head and took off.  
  
The Faerie of Faeries was still watching over Neopia.  
  
Author's note - Please offer me any feedback/suggestions/criticisms you may have - all is appreciated! I suggest that if you enjoyed this, you should read Manicla's Story after this to learn what happened after Fyora took charge. 


End file.
